Combination pocket implement



(No Model.)

A. A. LOW. COMBINATION POCKET IMPLEMENT.

No.. 464,139. Patented Dec. 1,1891.

UNITE STATES ATENT nron.

ABBOT AUGUSTUS LOW, OF BROOKLYN, NEIV YORK.

COMBINATION POCKET. IMPLEMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 464,139, dated December 1, 1891.

Application filed April 9, 1891. Serial No. 388,224. (No model.)

tions are embodied, is especially designed to be carried upon the person, although equally applicable as an ordinary tool, while affording an aggregation of separate implements or devices.

My present improvements relate more particularly to the form of implement set forth in my application, Serial No. 381,158, filed February 12, 1891, in which the cutting-blade is protected by a swinging guard, which is also adapted for use as a nail-cleaner and for analogous uses, in which a pointed implement is desirable, the said guard extending only a por-' tion of the length of the cutting-blade which it. protects, so as to leave an entrance to the space in front of the cutting-edge.

The leading feature of mypresent invention consists, primarily, in an adjustable shield or protector by which the opening to the cutting-blade may be regulated in width and by which the said blade and the point of its guard may be positively shielded from unintentional contact with extraneous objects when desired, and, secondarily, in the special construction and arrangement of a flanged screw engaging with a stationary part of the implement to constitute the adjustable shield and protector above referred to.

It will be seen that this new shield or protector has several functions. It may be used to entirely close the entrance to the slot or space between the cutting-edge and its parallel guard, at the same time effectually protecting the point of the latter, or it may be used to regulate the width of the entrance to the cutting-blade. In this connection it will be seen that it may be used in conjunction with the point of the guard as an exterior caliper or caliber or gage for ascertaining or latter is adapted for use as a finger-nail cleaner or other pointed implement, which would be otherwise liable, owing to the entrance to the cutter-blade, to stick into and damage objects accidentally brought into contact with it.

7 It is to be understood that the parallel guard for the cutting-blade, the point of which guard my adjustable shield is designed to protect, may be permanent in construction, forming partof thebodyof theimplementinstead of the swinging guard herein shown and described, which is the leading subject of my prior application hereinbefore referred to. In fact, the combination and arrangement of the cuttingblade, parallel guard, and adjustable shield is new, valuable, and operative independent of the particular aggregation of implements in a single device herein shown and described, since the blade, guard, and shield are related to each other in functions and maybe incorporated alone in a single device or combined with other special features of construction without varying the essential features of my invention in this respect.

My invention includes several other special features of construction and arrangement hereinafter described and shown and' claimed specifically.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved implement, the entrance to the cutting-blade being closed. Fig. 2 is an elevation of one edge of the same; Fig. 3, an elevation of the opposite edge of the implement; Fig. 4:, an elevation of the implement similar to Fig. 1, showing the out ting-blade fully exposed. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section,-upon an enlarged scale, of the main portion'of the implement. Fig. 6 is an elevation of one end of the device on the enlarged scale.

The shank A is formed of a single piece of metal, including the hook B, straight-edge and paper-cutter O, cutting-blade D, and combined wedge and screw-driver E.

In all essential respects the construction and arrangement of the body ofthe imple: ment is substantially the same as in implements of the character heretofore invented and patented by me, especially resembling the form shown in my concurrent application hereinbefore referred to.

The hook O is designed asa button or lace pull-hook for shoes and for analogous uses. The adjoining portion 0 of the shank A is formed with a straight-edge 0, adapted for use also as a paper-cutter. A new feature in this part of the implement consists in forming the wide flat back 0' of the paper-cutter Cwith a file-surface F, as indicated more clearly in Fig. 2. Arranged in this position the file is especially'convenient for use as a nail-file or for most of the general or special uses to which files are applied.

The interior blade D is formed in the usual or any convenient way, being preferably countersunk below the level of the sides.

The combined wedge and screw-driver E is formed with a V-shaped slot or nick e, which adapts this end of the implement for use as a lever in starting and raising drawing-pins, tacks, &c., the wedge shape facilitating the insertion of the claw underneath the article to be raised or loosened.

The interior blade D is provided with the parallel guard G, extending for the greater portion of the length of the cutting-edge d. This guard G may be made solid and rigid with the body A of the implement, if desired, although I prefer to employ the form of pivoted swinging guard hereinbefore referred to as forming the subject-matter of my prior application. It will be seen that a slot'd is virtually formed between the guard G and the cutting-edge d of the blade D, with an entrance d between the point g of the guard G and the shoulder d, the said space d admitting of the entrance of cord, &c., to the slot CF, to be severed by the edge d without exposing the latter tothe danger of contact with exterior objects. WVhen the guard G is closed, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 5, and the adjustable shield S is retracted, as shown in Fig. 5, its point 9 may be conveniently used as a nail-cleaner and for like purposes.

In order that the guard G may be swung out of the way when it is desired to employ the cutting-edge cl of the blade D for cutting in any of the various uses'to which the blades of pocket-knives are applied, I pivot the said guard G at h to the edge of the shank A. A groove h is formed in the edge of the shank A, in which a double-ended spring 1' is situated, both ends z" t projecting, when free, slightly beyond the edges of the groove h. A corresponding groove g is formed in the under side of the guard G at its rear extremity, into which either one end or the other of the spring 2' snaps when the guard is turned parallel to the shank in either one direct-ion or the other, as the case may be.

The shield S consists, essentially, in an adj ustable device for either closing the entrance d to the space d or for regulating the width of said opening. As shown in the drawings, it consists of a screw S, traveling longitudinally with relation to the body of the imple-- ment in a female screw-thread 8, formed in the shoulder d, adjoining the'end of the blade D. The head or flange s of the screw, when the latter is adjusted to close the entrance d meets the pointed end 9 of the guard G and protects the latter from engagement with exterior objects. By the use of the flange or head 8 in this manner I am enabled to keep the projection of the shoulder (P, in which the female screw-thread s is formed within the line of the outer edge of the guard G, and thus preserve the symmetry of the device as a whole. Otherwise the screw might be arranged, if preferred, with its longitudinal axis in line with the point g, the head 8 being upon the opposite end of the screwbeyond the shoulder 01 The head or flange s is in any case preferably milled or roughened, in order to facilitate the adjustment of the screw by frictional contact, by which means the screw may be quickly and conveniently rotated to either open or close the entrance d What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I 1. The combination, with a cutting-edge, of a parallel guard extending in front thereof for a portion of the length of the blade, and an adjustable shield for protecting the remaining portion of the blade, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

2. In an implement substantially such as described, the combination of a pointed projection adapted for use as a nail-cleaner and for analogous uses, and an adjustable shield for protecting the point of the said projection when not in use, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an implement substantially such as described, the combination of a pointed spur or projection adapted for use as a nail-cleaner and for analogous uses, and a screw-shield for protecting the point of the said projection when not in use, consistingof a screw arranged adj ustably upon the device opposite the said pointed end of the nail-cleaner, 850., for the purpose and substantially in the manner described.

4. In an implement substantially such as described, the combination of the. interior cutting-blade D, the parallel. guard G, extending in front of the blade D for the portion of its length, and the screw-shield S, arranged and operating substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

5. In an implement substantially such as described, the combination of the interior cutting-blade D, a swinging guard G, formed with the pointy, and the screw S, arranged and operating substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

6. In an implement substantially such as described, the wedge-shaped end E, formed with the notch e, for the purpose and substantially in the manner described.

7. The combination, in a single implement, of the blade 0, formed with the hook B, cutting-edge c, and file F, the interior blade D,

countersunk in the shankA, the Wedge-shaped end E, formed with the notch e, the swinging guard G, formed with the point 9, and the screw S, arranged and operating substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

ABBOT AUGUSTUS LOW.

Witnesses:

G. T. MIATT, D. W. GARDNER. 

